08 December 2007

See Ya in the Funny Pages

Well, it's happened. We went from rampant optimism to another break down in the talks in a matter of mere weeks. There's sniping, there's rhetoric, but what you really need to know is this: no progress was made, and it looks like the rest of the TV season is probably going to go down the tubes.

The Directors Guild takes up talks with the AMPTP soon. Directors don't usually walk, so that may end up forcing WGA's hand. We'll see.

04 December 2007

Don't Ask Me, I Just Work Here

Hollywood Reporter: Well, the AMPTP made its offer, and at the very least, the WGA didn't storm from the room. They're countering tomorrow, though no one seems to know the details. So, yeah: What do we know? Nothing. I'm no longer optimistic, I'm no longer pessimistic, I'm just confused.

Sydney (Australia) Morning Herald: It appears that Leno will be paying staffers' salaries after all. Yet another contradictory report from yet another source. Sigh.

So anyway, with news no longer flying so fast, I'm going to try to summon the energy to expand the M.O. of That's Not What She Said. I'll be working on a second "flashcap" forc Northern Attack soon, but with any luck I'll be able to post here with reviews of the "Veronica Mars" season 3 DVD box, and do the same for "The Wire" season 4 shortly thereafter. Whee!

03 December 2007

Merry-Go-Round

Talks begin again tomorrow, and as long as the sides are talking, that's always good. But reports are that almost nothing got accomplished last week, and both sides have been more engaged in PR than negotiation, as far as I can tell. The San Jose Mercury-News reports that the optimism of the last two weeks has almost completely disappeared. Meh.

Monstersandcritics.com: A short but interesting blurb indicates that the WGA may ditch negotiations with the AMPTP if they feel like they're still getting nowhere, and instead negotiate deals with individual production houses. Apparently, this has been done before, back in the 70s by cinematographers, and it worked. It would be a high-pressure tactic, for sure, but if it fails . . . ouch.

LA Times: Improvisation and the strike -- many actors are WGA members. If they ad-lib on the set, are they strikebreaking? Nobody seems to know for sure, and some, like Ben Stiller, are walking a tightrope while moving forward with shooting.

01 December 2007

Let the Playhouse Burn

In a story in the Hollywood Reporter AMPTP mucka-mucks criticize WGAW president David Young, who, you'll recall, is new and already had a reputation for not being great at negotiation. Although nothing that comes from either side should be taken with anything less than a fistful of salt, sources are claiming that Young has "dug in [his] heels" too hard, refusing to negotiate from the AMPTP's initial offer, which was never intended to be final. WGA negotiators have rejected the idea that Young is too inexperienced to be involved in these kind of talks. Officially I have no opinion, but I wouldn't be shocked if Young isn't quite as skilled as you might want your chief negotiator to be.

Film legend Woody Allen has shot a "Speechless" video in support of striking writers, according to Deadline Hollywood Daily. I'm intrigued to see this one, because unlike the others I've seen, I expect it might have some artistic merit as well as propaganda value.

New York Times: As expected, non-writing staff for Conan and Leno have been laid off by NBC. Conan's production company will be paying staffers until they're re-hired, and Leno has promised a Christmas bonus, but has said nothing about salaries.

AP: ABC News has reached an agreement with its newswriters, who have been working without a contract for three years.

The really important news is that I'm still writing occasional recaps for Northern Attack, filling in gaps in back episodes. My recap of "The Alliance" should be up sometime today.

30 November 2007

Two Steps Forward, One Step Back

Well, the press blackout has been lifted, and the news is . . . well, it's not good. Deadline Hollywood Daily and The Hollywood Reporter are reporting that the talks are moving slowly, and that the WGA is deeply unimpressed the AMPTP's new proposal. Apparently, negotiation sessions are brief, and the two sides spend a lot of time not even in the same room, mulling things over, with agent Bryan Lourd holding things together with twine and duct tape.

The WGA sent out an email to its members calling the AMPTP's proposal a "rollback". Here's the text of that email:

To Our Fellow Members,
After four days of bargaining with the AMPTP, we are writing to let you know that, though we are still at the table, the press blackout has been lifted.

Our inability to communicate with our members has left a vacuum of information that has been filled with rumors, both well intentioned and deceptive.

Among the rumors was the assertion that the AMPTP had a groundbreaking proposal that would make this negotiation a "done deal." In fact, for the first three days of this week, the companies presented in essence their November 4 package with not an iota of movement on any of the issues that matter to writers.

Thursday morning, the first new proposal was finally presented to us. It dealt only with streaming and made-for-Internet jurisdiction, and it amounts to a massive rollback.

For streaming television episodes, the companies proposed a residual structure of a single fixed payment of less than $250 for a year's reuse of an hour-long program (compared to over $20,000 payable for a network rerun). For theatrical product they are offering no residuals whatsoever for streaming.

For made-for-Internet material, they offered minimums that would allow a studio to produce up to a 15 minute episode of network-derived web content for a script fee of $1,300. They continued to refuse to grant jurisdiction over original content for the Internet.

In their new proposal, they made absolutely no move on the download formula (which they propose to pay at the DVD rate), and continue to assert that they can deem any reuse "promotional," and pay no residual (even if they replay the entire film or TV episode and even if they make money).

The AMPTP says it will have additional proposals to make but, as of Thursday evening, they have not been presented to us. We are scheduled to meet with them again on Tuesday.

In the meantime, we felt it was essential to update you accurately on where negotiations stand. On Wednesday we presented a comprehensive economic justification for our proposals. Our entire package would cost this industry $151 million over three years. That's a little over a 3% increase in writer earnings each year, while company revenues are projected to grow at a rate of 10%. We are falling behind.

For Sony, this entire deal would cost $1.68 million per year. For Disney $6.25 million. Paramount and CBS would each pay about $4.66 million, Warner about $11.2 million, Fox $6.04 million, and NBC/Universal $7.44 million. MGM would pay $320,000 and the entire universe of remaining companies would assume the remainder of about $8.3 million per year. As we've stated repeatedly, our proposals are more than reasonable and the companies have no excuse for denying it.

The AMPTP's intractability is dispiriting news but it must also be motivating. Any movement on the part of these multinational conglomerates has been the result of the collective action of our membership, with the support of SAG, other unions, supportive politicians, and the general public. We must fight on, returning to the lines on Monday in force to make it clear that we will not back down, that we will not accept a bad deal, and that we are all in this together.

Patric M. Verrone, President, WGAW
Michael Winship, President, WGAE


Yikes. They do not sound happy. It seems like my initial speculation that the AMPTP might be on the verge of an early buckle was incorrect, as there don't seem to be any big victories here. This sounds pretty much like the kind of compromise deal that might get done after months of striking has weakened the positions of both sides. I doubt very seriously it's actually a "rollback" -- what would be the point of offering your initial position, and then offering less? -- but it doesn't sound much.

So, the question becomes: Did the AMPTP come back to the table because they thought they were winning, or is this all part of a game in which they increase their offer incrementally in hopes that the writers accept something marginally less than the absolute maximum the AMPTP is prepared to give? I can't imagine they actually thought that offering the same thing again so quickly was actually going to work; writers have been loud, unified, and they've been winning the PR war handily. In fact, that sounds like a deliberate slap in the face, if not negotiation in bad faith, and either indicates that the AMPTP is totally clueless about consensus among their striking workers, or is just a collection of collossal assholes. It's kind of funny, but one hopes for the latter, because at least it means they have room to give, and a deal could still get done once they unclench. If it's the former -- negotiation not in bad faith but from bad information -- these talks will like collapse, just like the ones that ran from last summer through early this months, because no one's felt the pain yet, and no one has the incentive to make massive compromises.

The stage-hands strike ended yesterday, and Broadway, unlike Hollywood, is getting back to business. One wishes that this could be viewed as an optimistic sign, but I think it has essentially no effect or use as a bellweather for these talks; the issues were much simpler, the amounts of money much smaller, and the position of the union ultimately much stronger in this one.

Here's a depressing paragraph if ever I read one:

"[American] Gladiators," hosted by Hulk Hogan and Laila Ali, will replace freshman dramedy "Chuck," which recently was picked up for a full season but only has a few more episodes in the can because of the strike. "Chuck" is scheduled to air original episodes through Dec. 3. No decision has been made when and where the show's remaining couple of new segments will run.


NBC is adding three hours of reality programming coming in January 2008, including a revamped "American Gladiators" to replace their best new show, "Chuck". I used to love "American Gladiators". I also used to wear Wolverine jockey shorts and suck on Otter Pops. Sigh.

I was all optimistic. Now, I think there's a strong chance this stuff falls apart before any actul progress is made.

29 November 2007

In which Conan Scores Big PR Points

Nikki Finke is reporting that Conan will become the second late night host, after Letterman, to pay staffers out of his own pocket until the strike ends. Conan wrote for "The Simpsons", among other shows, and is a WGA member. Finke also reports that Carson Daly, who has been absolutely reamed for his decision to cross pickets, was going to lose his show if he didn't, so . . . yeah. Still wish he hadn't done it.

It's official: The Democrats have cancelled the CBS debate, partially because WGA wouldn't promise not to picket. Any Democrat who crossed pickets would pretty much immediately have his or her candidacy torpedoed in the primaries, because outfits like the AFL-CIO (affiliated with the WGA, East) hold enormous sway with the hardcore left that votes disproportionately in primaries. (Personally, I support Osama in 2008. He's the only one who will hunt down and capture Barack Obama. Ya burnt!)

A question I wonder about is if this hurts someone like Barack Obama, who recently rebooted his campaign and has once more been gaining ground on Hillary Clinton, to the point that she's no longer a prohibitive favorite. Obama is still far behind, and he needs to score another debate victory like he apparently did a few weeks ago (I find Democratic politics only slightly less distasteful than I find Republican politics, so I don't watch the debates and am going off what I've read) to keep his train running. On the other hand, he's probably wise at this point to be concentrating locally on Iowa, where he appears to have a good chance of winning, which would blow up the entire race, I suspect.

Nobody asked me, but I'm going to say it anyway: I think Hillary Clinton is a disaster candidate for the Democrats. You'd think they would have learned their lesson about nominating charismaless, swotty Senators in the Al Gore and John Kerry debacles, both of whom lost eminently winnable races, not because their ideas were any worse than George Bush's (Kerry didn't seem to have any actual ideas), but because they were stiff and boring. Clinton is essentially the same, except she comes with the bonus of being perhaps the most hated woman in America -- there's a massive section of the electorate who would seriously consider voting for, I don't know, Homer Simpson over Hillary Clinton, and just live with the fact that their next President was fictional. I've been saying for more than a year that the only way the Democrats could lose the upcoming election to the Republicans, short of the Contitution being changed so Arnold Schwarzahoozy could run, was to nominate Hillary Clinton, thereby gifting whatever lame candidate the Republicans are able to find a whole bunch of easily-plucked votes.

I, personally, have no animosity toward Hillary Clinton, and would probably vote for her over any of the lamebrain Republicans who might win the nomination, mostly because the extreme right wing of the party seems to have outlawed the reasonable center -- you know, the sort of person who doesn't deny the existence of the indisputable fact of evolution and recognizes that there's a distinction between "low taxes" and "small government", and that one doesn't necessarily imply the other. Also, Rudy Guliani scares the shit out of me. But I'm not the sort of person they need to convince. Self-professed feminists are not the kind to be scared off by Hillary Clinton. It's everybody else. People hate her. People hate her just as passionately as other people hate George Bush. That is a fundamental disqualification for national politics.

Okay, tangent over. Go about your day.

28 November 2007

Slow Day

According to EW, the industry as a whole is taking the talks as a positive sign, but fact of the matter is that the news blackout has rendered whatever drama there is at the table invisible and therefore, from our perspective, moot.

Reuters reports the same with slightly more detail. A "solidarity rally" was held yesterday in New York, and not only did John Edwards show up -- all part of his initiative to paint himself as champion of the working man, I suspect -- but a couple of New York reps showed as well. Of interesting: Democratic candidates are promising to boycott a debate if CBS news writers also go on strike, as they have threatened to do.

The LA Times says the debate, which is to be televised on CBS, might have to be scrapped anyway. If WGA members picket the debate, Edwards, along with Senators Obama and Clinton, would not show, because it would entail crossing a picket line, which would look bad to the mllions of union Democrats who tend to be among those who vote in primaries. Other, less-well-known candidates may see this as an opportunity to get their names out there, but the fact is that the odds are overwhelmingly that either Edwards, Obama, or Clinton will be the Democratic nominee, and a debate without any of them is no debate at all. ABC has rights to a Democratic debate and a Republican one in January; those will be held in New Hampshire. I've been to New Hampshire in winter. Nobody short of a Yeti is going to be able to picket those debates, believe you me.

Anyway, estimates I've seen for the end of the strike range from Deadline Hollywood Daily's projection of sometime before Christmas to one reporter (can't remember who, now -- sorry) predicting it could all be over by tonight. Well, it's four PM on the west coast. They could negotiate into the night, I suppose, but my guess is that we'll be waiting at least until tomorrow. The sooner the better, anyway. Lord knows I have a pile of good books to read, but it's so much easier to just watch "30 Rock", don't you think?

26 November 2007

The Dim Flicker of Hope's Candle

Today, the WGA and the AMPTP return to the negotiating table after a scant three weeks off the job. In light of the rhetoric spewing from both sides as recently as two weeks ago, color me surprised but optimistic. As I wrote about on Saturday, strikes that end quickly are the ones in which things are achieved for one side or the other. One's instinct is to think that the writers may be close to a pretty serious win, but that may merely be a result of the fact that the WGA is loud and the AMPTP has remained -- Variety advertisements aside -- relatively quiet and faceless. Either way, there's reason to be optimistic, because neither side wins if negotiations break down at this point.

Which brings us to this article from Nikki Finke at Deadline Hollywood Daily. Finke's reporting has been invaluable over the last three weeks, and when she says that "a very reliable source" is telling her that there's a deal "seemingly in place", it's worth taking notice. Finke herself is very cautious in the post, and I think that warrants due skepticism from us out here in the Mobility -- either the agreement is tenuous enough to fall apart, or the source was unsure (she quotes him/her as saying "it's already done, basically" [emphasis mine]), or something. I think part of the caution she exhibits may be due to the fact that the deal is supposed to be done "before Christmas" as opposed to this week, indicating that not all the kinks have been worked out. If it's true, though, a good portion of the season may be salvaged. Just how much is hard to say -- we'll almost certainly see some down time as a result of what would be, at that point, a two-month-long work stoppage -- but at the very least, "The Office" may have an opportunity to save was has been, to date, a distinctly lackluster season.

CBS News has a fairly boilerplate article about the return of the sides to the table, but it does add some minor fuel to the idea that the AMPTP may be buckling: While studios have been talking about the abundance of unproduced scripts they have, it appears that some of the ones they were counting on -- including the sequel to "The Da Vinci Code" -- are unfinished and will remain so until the WGA comes back to work.

New Republic/CBS News: Writer Mark Evanier gives a little (somewhat self-serving) history of WGA labor unrest going back seventy-five years. Most notable for an illustration of the above point about the legnth of strikes: In 1985, the WGA went on strike with a divided membership, unity collapsed after three weeks, and they got their asses handed to them in the subsequent negotiations. Their position -- or rather, their dedication to it -- wasn't strong enough to support aggressive bargaining tactics. I suspect that one side or the other may have had that happen this time, and it doesn't seem likely to be the writers -- though again, that could all be spin and PR.

Entertainment Weekly reports that the talks are taking place -- probably as we type -- at an undisclosed location, and under media blackout. Picketers, who (like yours truly) took last week off to break bread with family and friends, are back out today despite positive action in the boardroom. The article links to Get Back in that Room, a blog that has catalogued more than 400 layoffs since the start of the strike.

ABC News: With talk shows going dark, Presidential hopefuls, who have made appearances on "Letterman" and "The Daily Show" staples of their campaigns in the last few go-rounds, are out a source of publicity -- but perpetual punching bags like Hilary Clinton are also getting a break from the barbs of late nite wags.

Anyway. I was trying to embed a YouTube video into this post, in which Daily Show writers take their usual approach and apply it to the AMPTP, but YouTube has made that more complicated, so fuck it, I'll just post a link. The video is actually kind of old news, and I actually find it interesting more as an object lesson in the symbiosis of writers and actors than anything else. The segment is hosted by writer Jason Ross, and he mouths words that sound exactly like what Jon Stewart says every night -- and they're still funny, but not nearly as funny. You can hear the echo of Stewart's voice in Ross's much less practiced delivery. But you also see that you must be hearing the echo of Ross's voice in Stewart's every time he goes on television. It's very interesting. Also includes a guest shot from John Oliver, TDS's Brit-in-residence.

23 November 2007

You Leave Me . . . Speechless

London Telegraph: Hollywood stars, in solidarity with the WGA, have starred in a series of short films that are either silent or improvised. Recognizeable faces include Sean Penn, Holly Hunter, Chazz Palimentieri, and Jay Leno. Watch: Sean Penn, Hunter & Palimentieri

Reuters: Los Angeles' chief economist says that the strike could end up costing LA's economy $200 million if it lasts "through the end of the month", which I assume means another week.

The New Yorker had an interesting article on its financial page in its 19 November issue. The lessons of strikes past: Strikes are a result of imperfect information -- both sides think the other is bluffing -- and long ones happen when nobody is actually bluffing. Those are almost always destructive: Prolonged work stoppages edge both sides toward total compromise, with neither side making up in marginal gains what it lost in wages or profits. There's more, and if you're interested, that article alone is worth the $4.50. The rest of the issue is good, too, so it's not like you'll be paying a cent a word.

20 November 2007

Always Look on the Bright Side of Life

Hollywood Reporter: Fox has joined NBC-Universal and Sony in delivering letters of suspension to their actors, but in a new twist, are not invoking force majeure, which essentially terminates contracts and leaves actors free to do what they want without worrying about when their show comes back. Fox asserts that the contracts are still valid, and TV contracts remain priority one. SAG says that five weeks of half-pay is the maximum for "hiatus status", and then after that, contracts must be terminated if studios don't want to pay in full. Fox appears to feel otherwise.

La Times: CBS news writers and graphic artists, working the last two and a half years without a contract, have authorized a strike as well.

Daily Variety: The upcoming talks appear to be more than just a PR stunt. Apparently, we have four powerful talent agents to thank for this minor reconciliation; they had kept in contact with the heads of the AMPTP since the start of the strike, and last week reached out to WGAW's David Young. Here's hoping that Young can channel a little of his PR mojo into negotiation for once.

Deadline Hollywood: Somebody's in trooouuuble! An unnamed TV writer-producer has been called befrore the WGA disciplinary committee for breaking the strike rules on his show and a couple of other projects.

LA Times: The strike is a PR war, and there's no doubt who is winning: the writers. One poll shows only 4% of the public favoring studios, another, 8%. I coulda told you who was winning just from reading the news. Writers are getting out there, and the AMPTP is coming across as a monolith. The human face, boys: It wins every time.

Media Week: Advertisers may be asking for their money back soon. The issue is February -- sweeps month -- when ratings are highest and ads go for big bucks. If shows aren't back on track in three weeks, say some advertisers, sweeps could be wiped out -- in which case, it'll be time to start making some demands.

16 November 2007

. . . and the Gambling Comission's Hanging on by the Skin of Its Teeth

Big News:

Don't call it a comeback, they've been here for years. AMPTP and WGA will return to the table in ten days. Links to the United Hollywood blog, so the headline and such are not what you'd call . . . neutral.

Gonna Be a Rumble Out on the Promenade

Variety blog: "Curb Your Enthusiasm" producer Gavin Polone thinks the strike was ill-timed and may ultimately be ill-fated. With the writers out, at least for now, many networks may be making more money, rather than less, as they already have finished scripts to rush into production but aren't currently paying writers to do anything. He also says he could see the strike lasting six months.

Variety: Animosity is getting worse between writers and studios. And some numbers! AMPTP says that WGA wants a 700% pay hike on "electronic sell-through" (ie, iTunes) and 200% on internet pay-per-view. The WGA counters that these add up to raises of 2.1 cents and 2.5 cents per use, respectively. Anyway, AMPTP took out full-page ads in the the New York and LA Timeses that really pissed off the WGA. The article also notes that John Edwards will be on the picket lines with the writers today.

Entertainment Weekly: What does this strike mean for the Screen Actors Guild (SAG), whose contract is up come June? Well, actors are already much better paid than writers and directors for DVD, and the WGA's move to take DVD residuals off the table may mean that other unions aren't too worried about that, either. It's new media, and a guild that hasn't struck since 1980 may walk out as well, if the WGA -- which hasn't met with the AMPTP since 4 November -- can't nail down the contract that should be a bellweather for other major guilds. Oh yeah, what was the last SAG strike about? The changing ways in which people watch movies -- on videocassette.

Hollywood Reporter: Studios are ready to exercize "force majeure" on actors -- ie, terminate their contracts, legally, because of the strike. Universal is putting some actors on "unpaid hiatus". If "force majeure" is enacted against, say, Steve Carell, it means he doesn't have to drop everything and come back to "The Office" if he's filming a movie when the strike ends. Yikes.


Well, folks, next week is Thanksgiving week, and I'll have lots of travelling and cooking to do in that time. I'll be trying to give news hits, but don't look for anything major until the last burp is belched and the last bit of stuffing is stuffed in a stomach. When I do have time, I'll be back with "What is a Residual?" Until then, check back here for news, and check over at Northern Attack for my recap of this week's unofficial season finale of "The Office".

Dramatis Personae: The Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers

The name of the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers is a little misleading, though perhaps not intentionally so. It is not, as it sounds like, a collection of the men and women who get producer credits on movies and television shows; as we’ve already seen, many of those people are writers, actors, and/or directors in their own rights, and as a result are members of one of Hollywood’s grand plethora of guilds. No, the AMPTP is an association that represents just about any company that produces television shows or movies on which guild labor is used. The list is long -- over 300 members -- but the highlights include ABC, Dreamworks, CBS, Fox, NBC, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Disney, and Warner Brothers.

As you can imagine, the AMPTP has an enormous amount of money, and its President has a fairly impressive resumé: J. Nicholas Counter III, who as head of the organization serves as its chief negotiator in its talks with not only the WGA but with the Screen Actors Guild, the Directors Guild of America, and the constellation of other guilds and unions in showbusiness, got his law degree from Stanford in 1966 and before becoming the head of the AMPTP worked with the prestigious Los Angeles law firm Mitchell Silberberg and Knupp, which has a long history of representing consortuims of entertainment businesses. Counter plays hardball, and he seems to be prepared to use the vast amounts of money at his disposal to try to wait out the competition:

Mr. Counter said companies were prepared to use alternative programming like reality shows, reruns and movies to fill broadcast and cable networks during a walkout that might last, by his estimation, 9 or 10 months. (source)


Understandably, the WGA hates him, and the blog United Hollywood has already accused him of spreading disinformation when he implied that the WGA could end up blacklisting its own members for violating strike rules. That’s possible, but it’s also part of negotiation in a fight as ugly as this one has become. Both sides look to demonize the other. Counter is good at that.

Anyway, returning to the subject at hand, the AMPTP was founded in 1982, and Counter was tabbed then as their chief. He was in place when the WGA last struck, in March of 1988, a strike that lasted five months, obliterating the end of the 87-88 season and pushing back programming for the 88-89 season into winter. That strike saw the invention of reality television as we know it today, with shows like “Cops” filling the gaps as shows like “Cheers” vacated the airwaves.

So, what is the stance of the AMPTP? In its essence, it’s that new media is, well, new, and they don’t know how to make money off it yet, or whether it will gut their business, and as such it would be unwise to go about promising money willy-nilly to talent. Obviously, the actual issues at hand are more complicated than that, but that’s what it boils down to. That said, Counter and his compatriots have occasionally said other things. Here, for example, is a message from 1 November, days before the strike started:

. . . no further progress can be made because of the WGA’s continuing efforts to substantially increase the DVD formula. We’re ready to meet at any time . . . but the DVD issue is a roadblock to these negotiations.


While this may have been true at the time, several writers came forth after the strike began and said that the kibosh had been put the DVD demands in an eleventh-hour attempt to salvage negotiations, but it didn’t work. It seems pretty clear that AMPTP felt its strongest public negotiations ploy was to deal with the DVD issue, and with specific numbers -- according to industry statements, DVD residuals paid to writers came to $56 million in 2006. That sounds like a big number. That said, the studios made billions off those DVDs -- but the AMPTP is not alone in telling half-truths in this situation, so it’s probably wise to give them a pass.

The next day, a statement on the AMPTP website again addressed the DVD proposal first, calling it “unresonable”. Then it goes on to say that writers do get residuals from new media, and that the writers demands in that area will inhibit “our ability to experiment, innovate, analyze and adapt”. They have continued to hit this point again and again: Writers do get paid for new media of all kinds. New payments would be prohibitive.

It’s difficult to find information on exactly how much writers get paid for new media -- iTunes downloads, streaming video views, and so on -- but since the AMPTP has not named a specific number, my guess is that it wouldn’t look particularly high, even to Joe Blow at home on his computer. According the AMPTP, the basic issue is that writers want to be paid for advertisements on streaming video, while the AMPTP wants to pay them a share of producers’ revenue. What does that mean in dollars and cents? I’m too dumb to figure it out. Sorry, guys.

I’ll be back with news hits later in the day.

addendum: Here is an article in which Entertainment Weekly attempts to break down how much writers might make off internet residuals. Yeah, it didn't help me much, either.

14 November 2007

Dramatis Personae: Writers Guild of America

Well, this isn’t going to reach quite to the level of research paper, but I’ve been doing a little reading, and here, now, is the first of my Dramatis Personae articles. So: Just who are these guys, anyway?

Well, as a matter of fact, the Writers’ Guild of America is actually two entities: The Writers’ Guild of America, West, headquartered in Hollywood, and the Writers’ Guild of America, East, headquartered in New York City. They are affiliated, are both on strike, and have the same list of demands -- but to lump them always as one group would probably be a mistake. In fact, they sharpened their claws for the current squabble with studios by bitching at one another over finances. So, without further ado:

Who is in what union?

The Eastern branch had 3770 members as of 2006, consisting, in theory, of writers of films, television, and radio, though the vast majority of its members are in the film and television industries. Notable members of this branch include Tina Fey, the writers of Saturday Night Live, and Steve Bodow, head writer of The Daily Show. In fact, The Daily Show was the first Comedy Central program to go union, precipitating the unionization of Comedy Central in general. Jon Stewart was instrumental in this process, and has been particularly vocal in his support of the strike. WGAE’s President is Michael Winship, a former writer for the news progam “Now with Bill Moyers”. Its executive directory is the famously feisty Mona Mangan, who has been on the job since 1984; she’s looking to retire as soon as a replacement can be found.

The Western branch is by far the larger of the two, with just more than 7600 members as of 2006; they represent the bulk of the film industry and much of teleivision as well. Notable members include Greg Daniels of The Office, Damon Lindelhof of Lost, Joss Whedon of Buffy and the upcoming Dollhouse, and Steve Carell -- and others; if they write in Hollywood, they’re a member of WGAW. Its president is Patric Verrone, who wrote for “Futurama” and “The Critic”. A large part of Verrone’s agenda involves expanding Guild membership into reality television and animation, which both figure to be network staples if the strike drags on as long as it seems like it might. Its executive director is David Young, who recently replaced John McLean. Young is known as a strong organizer and good at the PR side of the job, but not as strong in negotiation.

How are they different?

WGAE is seen as considerably more militant than WGAW, though you can’t tell from the street protests this autumn. WGAE is affiliated with the immensely powerful AFL-CIO, the International Federation of Journalists, the International Affiliation of Writers Guilds, and Union Network International; WGAW is affiliated with only the IAWG. The last agreement with the AMPTP was passed in 2004; the WGAW approved it with a 16-1 vote of its directors, while WGAE directors gave it a considerably less resounding 10-6.

WGAW’s membership is roughly twice the size of WGAE, and its budget, as of 2005, was nearly four times as large. A National Labor Relations Board finding back then said that CBS, which airs “Two and a Half Men”, “CSI” and “How I Met Your Mother”, had violated labor laws by negotiating with WGAW without including WGAE. This led to union in-fighting and accusations by WGAE that WGAW had participated in union-busting; WGAW countered that WGAE owed it in the neighborhood of a million dollars in dues and miscellaneous charges.

Where do they come from?

They both have their origins in the 1912 founding of the Authors Guild, which included playwrites, story writers, and the like. In 1921, with film ascendant, the Screen Writers Guild formed, though in early days it was less of a union than a social club. It wasn’t until the Depression, when unions loomed large in the collective psyche of the United States, that the Guild began to operate in a more union-like fashion; starting in 1933, membership exploded, and by 1941 the SWG was conducting collective bargaining with movie studios. In 1954, what had been a union including just film writers merged with smaller groups representing television and radio writers, and divided itself in twain: Writers Guild of America, East, and Writers Guild of America, West. Originally, WGAW had two separate branches for film and television/radio, but that division was eliminated in the 1970s.

sources
www.wga.org
www.wgaeast.org
essortment.com
Wikipedia
Los Angeles Times
Two articles from Variety

13 November 2007

Bullets

I meant to post the first of my "Dramatis Personae" articles this afternoon, but instead found myself out for several hours attempting to secure repairs on my car. I swear, I'll do it tomorrow. Instead, a couple of links:

LA Times: Bullet pointed list of the issues at stake.
BBC: A quick Q&A on the players and issues at hand.
UPI: British Writers' Guild may use awards ceremony as a platform to express solidarity.
Washington Post: Children of writers on the picket lines.
AP: The AMPTP states its case in ads.

12 November 2007

11 November 2007

The End Is Extremely F'ing Nigh

Damon Lindelhof of Lost mourns the death of television.

The LA Timesreports that this strike could be the beginning of the end for Friday Night Lights, the football drama that is much beloved by a small portion of the population. More a spiritual descendant of My So-Called Life than Monday Night Football, FNL has never had good ratings and could die on the vine if the strike curtails programming before its ratings can rally.

Pressure Points

I'm fast learning that Reuters, despite the fact that it is neither located in the United States nor specifically geared toward entertainment news, most often offers the most insightful analysis of events leading up to and comprising the strike. In this article, by Steve Gorman and Dana Ford, tells us that layoffs may be imminent among the non-writing staff of late night shows, and also mentions -- something I hadn't heard before, but maybe I wasn't listening closely enough -- that the AMPTP has said it will return to the negotiating table if the WGA agrees to suspend the strike. WGA has so far refused that overture. Instead, executives from talent agencies are trying to act as mediators. It's easy to scoff when people say it's a small town, but Hollyweird really is a small city within a much larger one, it seems.

Protean-voiced producer Seth MacFarlane, of "Family Guy" and the egregious "American Dad", has apparently been a hit on the picket lines with his hot rhetoric and comedia dell'arte of characters. He's also been encouraging producers who can afford it to pay laid-off assistants out of their own pockets. Now that would be a gesture. I wonder what MacFarlane's definition of "afford" is.

The San Jose Mercury News ("the Merc", to this old Peninsulaite, and best paper in the Bay Area), reports that with Jay Leno refusing to cross picket lines NBC may be bringing in guest hosts in an attempt to stay on the air. No word on who that might be -- those people would have to be amenable to strikebreaking where Leno isn't -- but I'd encourage NBC to go some kind of completely radical route. How about James Gandolfini? That would be different. Also, Oprah is always looking to expand her Earth-swallowing empire. (Did anybody else hear on "Wait Wait Don't Tell Me" that people in rural Iraq watch Oprah? Wow.)

At BloggingStocks.com, venture capitalist Peter Cohan estimates that a six-month strike could cost the WGA as much as $486 million in lost wages. His numbers are admittedly fuzzy, but if it drags on that long, if he's even in the ballpark, it's going to take a long time for the writers' action to pay for itself, and even that's assuming massive growth in new media.

10 November 2007

RIP, Norman Mailer

We take a break from our regular programming to note the passing of the titanic Norman Mailer. Loved and hated in equal measure, Mailer revolutionized English-language journalism and nonfiction with books like Armies of the Night and Miami and Siege of Chicago, wrote at least one acknowledged classic in The Executioner's Song, and penned a personal favorite, Of a Fire on the Moon. Super perfundo to a genuine mensch.

Strike Two

Another sector of the entertainment industry has been nailed by strike fever: Broadway shut down when stagehands went out on strike, according to AP reports. The rhetoric is similar, but he constituencies are very different, I'd suspect.

Ellen Degeneres has pissed off the head of WGA East by returning to work after honoring picket lines for a day. Degeneres is a member of the WGA, but also of the American Federation of Television and Radio Artists, which supported her move. Ellen's producers have sniped back, but ultimately this seems like small beer to me. It's the weekend, people, what do you want?

Not surprisingly, news has slowed somewhat since the first day of the strike. Next week, I'll be doing some research, and attempting to bring my three loyal readers a primer on the players: The American Motion Picture and Television Producers, WGA West, and the supposedly more-militant WGA East. Look for those (hopefully) Tuesday-Friday. Of course, I will continue to bring news updates as well.

09 November 2007

"I'm Here for the Duration"

A couple more links for your mug. This one was brought to my attention by commenter Denise over at Northern Attack: YahooTV has an interview with "Office" writer-producer Greg Daniels. Title of this entry taken from the interview.

Meanwhile, Film.com is not feeling optimistic. They also report that FOX is less likely to be affected by the strike in the immediate future than some other networks, because of "American Idol" and other programming they have that wasn't scheduled to start until January anyway. "24" is pretty much kaput for the season, however, unless the strike is resolved within the next couple of weeks, which doesn't look likely.

Pickets Get Pretty

Looks like the most beautiful man on Earth has come out in support of the WGA. (That would beSendhil Ramamurthy. Sorry, Greg Grunburg.)

Be careful of Sendhil's eyes. He uses them to hypnotize you, and then he strikes.

Governotor?

Reports of Ahnuld's involvement in the strike are greatlyexaggerated according to a UPI report. The Governator says he has not "been asked" to get involved, but he will down the line if the sides come to him. A reasonable stance to take, I suppose, but less proactive than I had expected from an action star.

But wait! The BBC spins it another way! Schwarzathingy is all over this in a backstage kind of way! It's so hard to know who to believe in our post-modern America. (Or Britain, as the case may be.) Is there "objective" truth in these post-Derrida times? Where will we find it? Don't look at me -- I just ask questions, I don't answer them.

Those crazy Democrats are . . . well, they're talking, which is what they're best at. Hilary Clinton, Barack Obama, and John Edwards all come out in favor of the WGA. Given that Republicans seem to be best at things that are even less useful than talking, these days, it seems likely that our next President will be on record in support of the union. Yeah, shocker. Hopefully, this will all be over by then. If not . . . well, if not, I don't think there would be any Hollyweird left for a hypothetical future President to meddle with.

This press release states that rallies today on the Western Front will be outside Fox, and no less than Tom Morello (of Rage Against the Machine fame) will be playing an acoustic set. That sounds . . . weird.

The Hollywood Reporter says that Ray Romano and other members of the cast of the late not-so-lamented sitcom "Everybody Loathes Rain Man" (I assume you can get there) were on the pickets yesterday . . . but the really big name is Jesse Jackson. Gotta tell ya, I'm not sure this is a good thing for the WGA. The man has a fetish for lost caues, I swear.

One last note, and then later I'll have a different sort of post later today if I have time (heading out to Portland's Wordstock Festival soon enough): Software globjillionaire Marc Andreessen takes studios to task on his blog for picking a fight at the wrong time. What makes this the wrong time? This:

You're faced with a massive, once-in-a-lifetime shift in mainstream consumer behavior from traditional mass media, including film and television, to new activities that you do not control: the Internet, social networking, user-generated content, mobile services, video games. It's been snowballing since the mid 90's, for like 12 years -- 12 years of denial and obfuscation -- but it's really rolling fast now.


So the uber-rich technocrati are as split on this issue as anybody else -- Michael Eisner thinks the WGA is dumb, Andreessen thinks the AMPTP is dumb. Maybe they're both dumb. Who knows. You know what this situation could use? A muscle-bound Austrian with a giant bazooka.

08 November 2007

News: Quick Hits

Just some linkeage:

Variety reports that several writers will not be following WGA Strike Rule #8, which stipulates that all writers must turn copies of any uncompleted scripts they have written over to the union, ostensibly to guard against allegations of strikebreaking. Studios sent writers' agents strongly-worded letters before the strike even started, telling writers that they would be in breach of contract if they did any such thing. Writers are justly afraid of being nailed by legal action from the studios, who have already paid for the scripts and would seem to have the high ground here. (Note: I am not a lawyer.) WGA asserts that the scripts do not become studio property until options are exercized, which they wouldn't have been yet on incomplete scripts; they're threatening censure or fines for guild members who do not obey Rule #8. Yikes.

The LA Times has an article detailing the reaction of labor leaders outside the conflict; not surprisingly, they appear to be on the side of the WGA. The most interesting tidbit seems comes from Rose Ann DeMoro, head of the California Nurses' Assosciation, who has a list of the four big needs for a successful strike: 1. Public support. 2. Cohesion among members. 3. Political power. 4. A righteous cause. I would say that #4 is way, way down the list, but it appears that the WGA has #1 on its side -- feeling on the internets, at least, is overwhelmingly in favor of striking writers, at least for now. It appeared that they hand #2, but if they start fining people over Strike Rule 8, that could be a problem. The other two? Well, the current Governor of California used to be a member of a Hollywood guild, so that can't hurt. As far as #4 goes, I'm not sure "righteous" ever comes into the equasion in today's America. I think they're right, but I don't know about righteous.

"Office" writers Michael Schur (who also plays Mose Schrute) and Jen Celotta stopped by Office Tally yesterday to chat with fans; Tanster has posted a chat transcript. It's long, but interesting.

"Office" star Jenna Fischer (Miss Beesly, if you're nasty) has a blog entry discussing the strike.

In which there is a war of words, and I try to think up a less ugly name than "scab".

Hi all. News continues to build. United Hollywood is reporting that some soaps are already hiring "scabs", though I haven't seen anything confirmed on that. I don't like the term "scab", because it makes me sound like what Brian Howard would call a "union shill", which I swear I'm actually not. "Picket-line-crosser" is sort of cumbersome, however . . . "nonunion writer"? That's a little unweildy as well, but I like it better than "scab". This is difficult, because "scab" is such a versatile word (it can be verbed -- one can "scab" -- or remain a noun -- one can be "a scab"). But there you have it. "Nonunion writer" it is, until I come up with something better.

Michael Eisner, former head of Disney, has something to say, and it's not good:

For a writer to give up today's money for a nonexistent piece of the future -- they should do it in three years, shouldn't be doing it now -- they are misguided they should not have gone on the strike. I've seen stupid strikes, I've seen less stupid strikes, and this strike is just a stupid strike.


Talking to the Hollywood Reporter, he had several other colorful things to say, including calling the talking up of digital media by networks and studios "a harlot's parade" (good one; I'm going to steal that), and saying that the only people currently making money off of new media are the aggregators and distributors, like Apple. Of course, Eisner himself heads a company called Tornante that invests heavily in new media, so it's hard to take exactly what his meaning is. "They should do it in three years" is probably the heart of the statement -- he's saying that they're giving up a dollar today for a dollar tomorrow, and that dollar probably won't actually be there until next week. There might be some merit to that, but if you ask me, it's always better to get in something a little too early than a little too late.

Put it this way: If there were no money in this, would the AMPTP be so reluctant to give it up? Of course not. "Sacagawea dollar? That's what you want? Here, have one." So perhaps WGA is making sacrifices that aren't yet necessary, but they will be eventually. Call it the ripping-off-the-bandaid approach.

In other news, The Governator appears to be trying to step in -- nothing heavy-handed from this small-government hero, just some back-channels chatter -- in a move that frankly I had expected earlier. Ahnuld (notice how I keep carefully avoiding spelling his last name? not a coincidence) is well-positioned to A) make a real difference in this matter, and B) come out looking like a real champ, which everyone knows he loves. He's bright, he's rich, he's got the weight of government behind him, and he knows the business. The Reuters article I've now cited like a billion times indicated that the two sides were so estranged that the only way to bring them to the table would be gradual communication through back-channels; Schwarzenegger (did I get it?) is the perfect man for that job. This is the signatirue industry of the biggest, most powerful state in the most powerful nation on Earth.

"You know my handcuffs? I picked them."

Let's See if We Can Squeeze This into a Nutshell.

I said before that I was reflexively in sympathy with the writers in this strike, and that’s true, but that’s not the entirety of the reason I feel the strike was necessary. I’ll try to detail my thinking here.

I’ve had at least one person treat me as if I was hopelessly naive for even taking a side. The fact that this person didn’t have a much more than a lot of snotty questions with no answers didn’t really endear them to me; but the real issue is that I feel this strike is necessary for the health of the film and television industry as a whole. I understand that studios have both an obligation to their share holders to make money and feel no moral obligation to compensate writers in any way other than they already do -- in fact, they feel that the current compensation structure is more than fair. That much is obvious from the AMPTP website. The industry line is that it will collapse on itself if forced to pay writers, actors and directors residuals on internet views and downloads.

To which I say, bullshit. They claim to make no money off that stuff; if that’s true, then any percentage of zero dollars is zero dollars -- so they’re not really paying anybody anything. But the fact of the matter is that, despite the fact that the way we watch television is changing, there is still an incredible amount of money in the industry; not paying residuals on internet accesses amounts to a pay cut, and no union outside of a seriously struggling industry (like the American automobile or airline industries) is going to accept that.

To some people, it seems to be about process, and from what I’ve read -- particularly from this Reuters article -- it’s fair to say that everyone’s to blame for that one. AMPTP took a radical stance at the start as a bargaining ploy, hoping to give a little ground and still come out golden. It seems like the WGA decided to strike the moment that happened, or at least their lead negotiators did, and between July and 5 November, negotiators met less than two dozen times. That seems to be the WGA’s fault, largely; they used guild elections as an excuse not to meet with negotiators several times in September and October. Everyone’s acting outraged, and I think that may be because everybody negotiated in something less than good faith.

I’ve gotten off track. The reason I support this strike is because it is in the interest of any industry to compensate its employees well. If residuals dry up, a great number of writers and actors and directors will not be able to afford to be writers and actors and directors. They’ll have to go back to Muncie, Indiana and take jobs as accountants and receptionists and clerks at the VA hospital. That pleothora of choice you and I, the viewer, have come to enjoy, 200 television channels, thousands of movies released each year for our edification, all those things? That would probably dry up. If you don’t compensate your workers fairly, they don’t work. It’s as simple as that.

Some would argue that television gets along fine without scripted shows. “American Idol” is consistently the highest-rated show in the land. I suspect that it is such results that embolden studio executives as they march forward into this strike, and I don’t blame them: If television can be made, and made profitably, without having to pay writers or actors, they ought to do it. I also don’t think it’s going to work. I say this not just because the only reality show I’ve ever had any use for is “Newlyweds” (shut up), but because I genuinely believe that variety, the spice of life, is what keeps television going. With no scripted television -- which runs the gamut from soapy weepers like “Grey’s Anatomy” to farcical laffers like “30 Rock” to morally challenging science fiction like “Battlestar Galactica” -- a lot of television going to start looking the same. News, reality fluff, and a few cartoons. It’s not a pretty picture, and it’s not a picture that’s going to attract a lot of viewers after a while. The last strike torpedoed viewership. It seems like studios are betting on that not happening nearly as much this time around. I think they’re betting hard and betting wrong.

It has always been my belief that people are best motivated by three things, in this order: fear, money, and sex. The allure of fame is the promise of the last two; take money out of that equasion, and writing for television becomes just another gig. Quality suffers, and ultimately, quantity suffers. Right now, it’s received wisdom that Americans want to be famous, that our children have learned to want to be famous. We all want to be in television. I wouldn’t count on that allure holding if it turns out the living to be made is irregular.

07 November 2007

"When we're off the job, pretty much everything stops."

That's Marc Cherry, writer-producer ("showrunner", in Hollyweird speak) of "Desperate Housewives", speaking to the LA Times this evening. Networks has hoped to keep showrunners doing the producing parts of their jobs, so that completed scripts could be turned into episodes to air through the end of the year. More than 100 showrunners picketed outside Walt Disney Studios (which owns ABC). The move caused many shows to shut down; Cherry's "Housewives", "Grey's Anatomy", "The Office", and "Family Guy" are among them.

Some of these shows will be off the air as soon as this week. Will it make a difference? It's hard to say. This may or may not be retaliation against a studio move to suspend contracts with production companies in an effort to kill support among rank-and-file, like production assistants, whose names you never see and who are not actually members of the striking guild. (This is pure spectulation, you should know.) I've read at least one studio head who claims that his studio won't be affected financially. (I'll try to find the link tomorrow; for now, my commentary is: Yeah, right.)

Other links:

LA Times:"The Office" first big casualty of strike
UPI: Writers Guild of Canada supports WGA move
Reuters: Writers may find succor in animation
Reuters: Strike could be a long haul

Goldmine

Don't know how I didn't find this before, but the LA Times has got a grid of which shows have how many scripts. So, some of the biggies:

Late Night

Almost all of the late night shows, including Letterman, Leno, Stewart and Colbert, go into repeats immediately. Hey, we've still got "Nightline", right?


ABC

"Lost" appears to have eight episodes (out of a 16 episode run) completed, or will once shooting is done on finished scripts. "Grey's Anatomy" will have 11 to 13, "Pushing Daisies" 9. I worry about the fate of "Pushing Daisies" if this strike drags on; it has won its time slot consistently but hasn't been any kind of runaway hit. It could lose momentum and find itself cancelled.

CBS

Do they still have television shows on CBS?

NBC

"Earl" has 13 episodes completed, and "Scrubs" is expected to finish 12 out of 18.

CW & Cable

"Everybody Hates Chris" (CW), "Monk" (USA), "The Wire" (HBO), and "The Shield" (FX) are either completely written or already finished filming. The biggie (as far as I'm concerned) is "Battlestar Galactica" (Sci Fi). Television's best show has ten episodes good to go, and after that . . . who knows. Yikes.

"24", "Scrubs" up in the air

One of the more interesting questions involved in this strike is what happens to shows like "Lost", "24" and "Battlestar Galactica", which don't return until January. What I've read seems to suggest that "Lost" may be ready go, because several scripts are already written. "24", on the other hand, appears to have been postponed indefinitely. FOX is citing concerns about having the show remain continuous, the way it has in the past, airing with no repeats or breaks in the schedule.

Meanwhile, Bill Lawrence, mastermind behind "Scrubs", has said that he doesn't "feel right" about being on-set, despite the fact that this is the critically-acclaimed show's final season. Speaking of the final episodes, he told Variety's Michael Schneider:

I haven’t put an ounce of thought into it. We’re on strike. During the downtime, it’s hard not to think about what to write next. But I fill my head with happy thoughts.


I've followed "Scrubs" for a long time, and it's a little disappointing to see it all spinning to an end like this, without input from its creator and driving force. That said, I've been pretty frustrated with this season, which appears to be going the predictable "Ross and Rachael" route with JD & Eliot, which is a shame, since those two are like, the most annoying couple on television. Lawrence expressed confidence that the episodes that are being shot from already-completed scripts will be good, but seems to have left open the question of whether or not the show would even come back if the strike imposed a premature hiatus. I'm betting not. It's always been ratings-challenged, and NBC has been treating it like a red-headed stepchild for seven years.

Who Are You: That's Not What She Said Edition

So we already had a “That’s Not What She Said: Origins” edition, but I thought it might be helpful if I gave you a little more information on me and my background. But only a little. We’ll be doing this in question-and-answer format.

You call yourself a writer. What have you written? I have been a reporter with the Bend, Oregon, Bulletin and the Menlo Park, California, Almanac. That’s pretty much the extent of what you would call my “professional” writing career; long ago I wrote music and movie reviews for a college newspaper and a couple of now-out-of-business zines. Thrilling, I know. I’ve also had a few poems published, won a couple of awards for writing poetry (none you’ve heard of, though), and have a novel in the works.

Can I read some of your poetry? No. I gave up poetry years ago, partially because I decided that American poetry is a shambles. I don’t really have that much interest in the stuff that I wrote back then, and I don’t see why you should, either.

So what are your qualifications, mister? None, essentially, other than an ability to express myself in writing, and enough time on my hands to research this stuff. Come on, this is the internet! Who needs qualifications?

What are your political leanings? Not really relevant, but I think I’m currently registered as a member of the Green Party. I’d probably be a Republican if I could tolerate their military or social platforms. Sadly, I can’t, so there you are.

Will you loan me money? Hey, I’ve got a mortgage and bills too, buddy.

Will you at least tell me your real name? Joseph. But unless you’re here to offer me unspeakable amounts of money or fame, I’m afraid I can’t give you my last name. Just call me Linus, and everybody will be happy.

What does “That’s Not What She Said” even mean? Well, on the NBC sitcom “The Office”, anti-hero Michael Scott can’t resist responding to even the slightest of double entendres with “That’s what she said!” Since “The Office” is about to go off the air for who knows how long . . . I think you can put the rest together for yourself.

You call yourself a “TV junkie”. What shows do you watch? I watch “The Office”, and recap it at Northern Attack, splitting duties there with Karin, who has already been kind enough to comment on this here blog. In addition, I’ve been known to viddy “Scrubs”, “30 Rock”, “My Name is Earl”, “Heroes”, “Lost”, “Bones”, “Boston Legal”, “Pushing Daisies”, “The Wire”, “Battlestar Galactica”, “Good Eats”, “Anthony Bourdain: No Reservations”, and “The 4400”. I also have been known to watch old DVDs of “Veronica Mars”, “Buffy the Vampire Slayer”, “Angel”, “Firefly”, and “Northern Exposure”. Horrifying, isn’t it?

Do you have a comments policy? I don’t want to have to start a registration policy, so I’m asking you to keep your comments civil and legibile. That means no webspeak, no politics, no religion, no ad hominem attacks against me, other commenters, or the subjects of the posts. NO YELLING! no posting in all lower-case unless you are ferd farkel. Use a reasonable number of exclamation points (!), question marks (?), and other punctuation. If you find yourself getting too heated, do what I do (because I have that problem, too): Take a break. Calm down. Sober up. Come back tomorrow. This is an environment of welcoming, and disruptive commenters can just get the hell out of here.

What else do you have to say for yourself? Not much. I’m hoping that this strike is short; in that case, That’s Not What She Said’s raison d’etre disappears quickly. That’s fine with me. But until then, if you want the news and don’t have the energy to find it yourself, stop by. I’ll be trying to update daily -- and sometimes, like today, several times a day.

"We know the future of the industry is the web."

Forbes has an article about the necessity of this strike from the point of view of the WGA. In it, Kate Purdy, one of the authors of United Hollywood (see sidebar) and a writer on "Cold Case", says the following:

We know that the future of the industry is the web, and that in the near future television sets and computer monitors will merge into the same screen.


Forbes isn't exactly what you'd call a union rag.

Blogs Don't Strike, Cos They Don't Make Money

Ken Levine, a writer who has worked on such notable shows as "The Simpsons", "M*A*S*H", and "Frasier", may be on strike, but he's still blogging. Most of his entries are not strike-related, but they're still worth reading, because he's pretty funny.

What Happens When a Strike Stops Being Polite, and Starts Getting Real

Well, as expected, networks appear to be ramping up reality program as a way of coping with the writers' strike. Ugh. Let me tell you about reality television: Screw reality television. Aside from when I accicentally watched Newlyweds all of the times it was on, I've never been able to tolerate the stuff, and I'll tell you why: It's lowest-common-denominator, mind-deadening, repetitive crap. And most of it's about as "real" as the Gulf of Tonkin Incident. Anything for which they have to "cast" is not reality, my friend.

This could turn out to be a very effective strategy, however. People love reality television. Looooooooove it. From American Idol to The Surreal Life, it makes up a great deal of television's most popular programming, and compared to scripted shows, which employ actors and directors and, yes, writers, all of whom must be paid, it's fairly cheap to put together. There's some question as to whether there might eventually be some reality TV fatigue -- a real possibility, if this strike drags on for a long time -- but for now, a certain segment of the population (the segment that lovesBig Brother) might see this as a boon. Fewer storylines, more shouting!

Anyway. The last time there was a strike was 1988, and it lasted five months. According to this article from 2001, that strike had brutal effects on television viewership, and nobody won. People turned off their televisions, and a significant chunk (10%, according to the article) didn't turn them back on when TV came back. In addition to this, the curse of the newsmagazine was born in those dark days. God only knows what horrors this strike might have in store if it goes on that long.

Joss Whedon Chimes In

Joss Whedon is perhaps the greatest living television writer. He created the classics Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Angel, and like any genius worth his salt, has one project (the latelamented Firefly) that died before its time. He's worn many hats on television and in film -- he's written for sitcoms (Roseanne), written movies both great (Toy Story) and, well, less so (the original Buffy the Vampire Slayer), directed television and one woefully under-exposed movie (Serenity, a spinoff of Firefly), and produced two shows. He's got a new show in the queue for spring . . . assuming the strike is over by then. Until then, as he said last week, he's "not picking up a pencil". Over on whedonesque.com, a blog dedicated to Whedon-related news, Joss Whedon has chimed in.

It's occurred to me that the links I've posted so far have been overwhelmingly pro-union, so I'll be adding a link to the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers, the coalition of studios and networks that negotiates with the Writers Guild of America.

"The Office" on the Picket Lines, Steve Carell Staying Home

Here's a video of Office writer-producer Greg Daniels, along with writer-actors Mindy Kaling (Kelly Kapoor), BJ Novak (Ryan Howard), Mike Schur (Mose Schrute), and Paul Lieberstein (Toby Flenderson) walking the picket lines outside NBC-Universal:



My impression is that "The Office" is one of the strongest union shows out there. Others, such as 30 Rock, are apparently still in production despite the fact that producers and stars are members of the WGA. Tina Fey did not report for work on Monday, and instead picketed the building that gives her show its name, 30 Rockefeller Plaza in Manhattan, but apparently came back thereafter to do her work as an actress. According to ABC News, however, Office star Steve Carell, himself a member of the WGA (he penned Office episodes "Casino Night" and "Survivorman" [this week on NBC], as well as co-writing The 40-Year-Old Virgin), will not cross picket lines. Yesterday, reports were that the show was trying to soldier on despite disruptions, but without Carell, that notion appears to be a non-starter. According to the linked article, The Office has two episodes in the can, and will go into repeat after next week.

That's Not What She Said, Origins

I suppose it’s good to start with a statement of purpose and all, as much as I have one, or at least a list of biases. I’ve started this blog because I was cluttering up the comments page at Northern Attack, where I share recapping duties for the NBC television show The Office, with long posts containing strike news. I decided, given the plethora of free web hosting space out there, that it might be wiser just to start my own blog, and let James, webmaster of Northern Attack, do his his own way.

So, what’s my purpose, and what are my biases? My purpose is simple: To collect news about the strike of the Writers Guild of America, which is threatening to shut down scripted television and affect the entire economic structure of the largest state in the Union. There will be some analysis of said news, but keep in mind that I am neither a lawyer nor a union expert, and what you’re getting from me is simply the brain vomit of a clever kid who watches television and onceago got good grades and stuff. You’re not getting anything insider from me, as I am not an insider.

My biases. I am a writer, but not a screenwriter, and I belong to no unions or guilds. I am reflexively in sympathy with the goals of the guild -- there’ll be a quick blurb on that in a post later today -- but only in this instance. In a broader sense, my feelings on unions are mixed. Call them a necessary evil, and yet another institution that could use reform. But that’s straying closer to politics than I want to go.

A warning for readers: There will be the occasional curse word on this blog. I’m operating on the assumption that we’re all grownups here, and nobody’s sensibilities are going to be wounded too badly if I call a spade a spade -- or rather, a piece of shit a piece of shit. Don’t worry, we’re not going to be having a Pulp Fiction-style F-word orgy, there won’t be descriptions of explicit sex acts or graphic violence. If you can handle late night cable television, you can handle That’s Not What She Said.

Much love,

Linus.